Perspectives on Africa
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Author Archives: perspectivesonafrica
What do African countries’ names mean?
Interested in a nonsensical map of Africa? Have a look at this map displaying a translation of each African country’s name. This picture is only a screen capture of an interactive map I have created. You can see the full version here … Continue reading
‘Mastering the River Niger: James MacQueen’s Map of Africa and the Struggle over Atlantic Slavery’ (Review of David Lambert’s presentation on the 13th February 2013)
This post is a review of the seminar given by David Lambert on James MacQueen’s Map of Africa (University of Leeds, 13 February 2013). David Lambert presented a fascinating analysis of the influences upon James MacQueen’s geographical imagination of the River … Continue reading
‘Identifying with War: A Historical Appraisal of Child Combatants in African Conflicts, c.1950-2010′ (Review of Stacey Hynd’s presentation on the 13th March 2013)
This post is a review of the seminar given by Stacey Hynd on African child combatants (University of Leeds, 13 March 2013). Hynd’s paper tackled a range of disparities between the humanitarian narrative of the child soldier and the actuality … Continue reading
Nigeria, a Russian website and Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)
I think it was on a Russian website a few years ago. I am not so sure. I knew I wanted to study Nigeria and I didn’t know where to start. I googled “Nigeria” and found a series of texts … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged african literature, chinua achebe, Nigeria, nigerian civil war
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Impact of the internet on historical research
The rise of the internet has profoundly changed historical research. This paper will analyse the two main aspects of the internet’s impact on historical research. Increased accessibility is the main advantage across both sections whereas there are a myriad of … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Blog, Internet
Tagged African History, blog, history, Internet, research
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Andrew Feinstein’s The Shadow World
As Andrew Feinstein admitted in the packed former LUCAS library at 4pm on the 6th March 2013, it is hard to compress 500+ pages and 3000+ references of his latest book, The Shadow World, into 45 minutes. It is harder … Continue reading
Posted in South Africa, United Kingdom, Weapons
Tagged South Africa, United Kingdom, weapons
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Local media representation of famine in Africa: cover-ups, instability and death
De Waal’s seminal publication in 1995, Famine that Kills, altered Western academia’s interpretation of famine. The basis of his thesis is that the African concept of famine does not use the presence of deaths from starvation as a criterion for … Continue reading
Uganda Separatism: Acholi’s Seek to Form New Nile Republic
After many years of civil war caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army under Joseph Kony in northern Uganda, the most affected people, the Acholi, are raising the issue of whether they should remain part of the country. Through their lawmakers … Continue reading
Posted in Lords Resistance Army, Separatism, Uganda
Tagged Acholi, Joseph kony, LRA, Uganda
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When your mobile phone becomes your bank: M-PESA in Kenya
I have recently been to Kenya and, despite the fact I had already heard about this money transfer system, I was struck by the omnipresence of a mobile money service called M-PESA (meaning “mobile money” in Swahili) . The principle … Continue reading
A missed opportunity to explore contemporary memory of apartheid
Dr Jonny Steinberg presented his paper ‘High Modernist statecraft under Verwoerd’ in the Imperial and Colonial Seminar held at the University of Leeds on the 21st November 2012. The inspiration for this paper came from a closed-door think tank meeting … Continue reading
